Participatory Action Research Project

AHE 576
Stevona Burks & Sydney Donaldson
June 6, 2016

Abstract
This action research project examines what coaches think influences their leadership styles and

values as they work with athletes to achieve success. This research consists of interviews from

coaches in the WWU athletic department. The questions are generated from selected articles that

helped us evaluate the gaps within the literature and from the interview. We hope to find if both

the literature and interviews present the same findings, that they will provide us information to

give further recommendations in fostering better leadership styles and relationships with student

athletes.

Research Discussion
In order to a successful coach, an individual must have the capability of creating an effective

environment with goals in mind, being able to take risks, solve problems, thinking critically, and

most of all be a leader (Baghurst, Murray, Jayne, and Carter, 2014). These are the overarching

qualities that coaches should strive to achieve in order to establish a positive coaching

environment that is influential to athletes.

The qualities of a coach rely on the types of leadership style the individual has that best

serve the athletes on a team. According to Baghurst, Murray, Jayne, and Carter leadership

requires the ability to influence followers and guide them towards a goal in being a good leader

for each team member on the team. Coaches are required to display leadership skills in

overseeing athletes on the team (2014). There are several qualities of effective leadership

Baghurst at el (2014) recommend leadership is defined by the effectiveness of leaders to

influence followers in every relevant aspect whether it is through drive, integrity, intelligence or

motivation, coaches must possess certain leadership qualities or characteristics to be successful.

These characteristics include ethics or strong moral values, competence, self-confidence, and the

desire to be influential. Coaches should be trust worthy in decision-making and behavior to led a

team of athletes. Leadership styles that are often attributed to successful coaches tend to be

transformational and situational leadership, both in which require a coach to be very self-aware

and reflective.

There has not been much research on leadership behaviors that determines an effective

coach. Armstrong (2013) suggests that, effective coaches are skilled at choosing the best

leadership style for their sport and their individual athletes (p. 44). By adopting this type of

behavior, coaches are conducting transformational leadership that makes improvements to

athlete performance, team cohesion, and team and coach morale (Armstrong, 2013 p.44).

Transformational leadership considers to be superior leadership performance that ensures that

followers are able to transcend their self-interests to manifest for the greater good of the team.

Characteristics of transformational leadership that emphasize ethical behavior, consist of

positive, rich and fulfilling experience for athletes and coaches to focus less on personal

interests and more on community and equality (Armstrong, 2013, p. 44). This allows for the

coach to focus more on the individual success within sports that should not come at the expense

of personal health through inappropriate use of money and time (p. 45), as well as the qualities

each teammate brings to the team. Developing leadership among members through

transformational leadership is not top-to-bottom, but rather in both directions so that athletes are

capable to make positive contributions, which in turn provides them the opportunity to become a

leader themselves.

Coaches that are transformational leaders share their vision and goals with the team so

they become personal and specific to the teams needs and wants, that the transformational
leaders vision for the future is compelling and contagious between the coach and athletes so

they can become one and reach team goals (Armstrong, 2013, p. 45). Coaches work to enforce

this type of leadership mentality, encouraging athletes to think in new ways that allows athletes

to see the advantages of uniting as a team and putting their own personal agendas aside.

A coach can improve performance through charismatic leadership as a transformational

leader by being self-confident, self-determined, and carrying a high esteem. The coach usually

provides emotional support that motivates athletes to perform beyond their best when they are

inspired by charismatic coaches. Matveyev supports the effects of charismatic coaches that

suggests that athletes ambition often exceeds a certain magnitude, the results of which at the

moment [of competition] is actually not within his abilities, but from the coach who supports

him emotionally (Armstrong, 2013, p.45). A successful coach can lead athletes to perform

beyond their expectations through their energy and response to challenges.

Kouzes and Posner describe transformational leaders that lead by example: Leaders act

in ways that are consistent with their beliefs, they are persistent in pursuit of their visions, and

they are always vigilant about the little things that make a big difference (Armstrong, 2013, p.

45). This is about athletes establishing trust to rely on their coach who serves as the leader for

their team. The coach has to abide by his or her own team standards inside and outside of the

context of coaching in order to be authentic leader. By modeling appropriate values Kouzes and

Posner further express that, values gives direction to hundreds of decisions made at all levels of

the organization everyday (Armstrong, 2013, p.46). Coaches have the ability to set important

values that can be effective long-term, especially academically. For example, coaches have the

ability to require athletes to strive for academic success by ensuring the athlete is a student first

before an athlete, which the athlete is hold accountable for his or her action.
 A transformational leader uses encouragement and praise in order to recognize an

athletes accomplishments, which fosters self-worthiness. The encouragement that comes from

coaches is a way to validate progress and Kouzes and Posner also suggests that, it gives the

leader the opportunity to reach group members on a personal level, thus strengthening the bond

between them (Armstrong, 2013, p. 45). Coaches can provide feedback when necessary to

enhance confidence level of athletes as they successfully complete goals to establish long-term

relationships. Praising is meaningful for athletes growth as well as foster self-perseverance by

individuals to continue to strive towards becoming the best athlete and person they can be.

This article expresses the interpersonal skills a coach must have to work with athletes and

most of all, being an effective leader. Although the transformational model is highly

recommended for business leaders, it can be used for coaches in developing meaningful and

trusting relationships use of the model can result in higher productivity as well as elevation of

the ethical awareness of both group and leader (Armstrong, 2013, p. 46). The model seems to

develop personality traits that could be consider as a learned practice, but remains one form of

leadership style.

Methodology & Research Questions

Due to our experience and interest in the area, we felt that we had a good grasp on what we

wanted to achieve in our research. We composed a total of three research questions that we

wanted to focus on for our work: 1) What was your motivation to become a coach? 2) What have

been some of your biggest influences in your coaching philosophy? 3) What motivates you to

continue to work with student athletes? We knew that we wanted to interview coaches at Western

but was unsure on how many or who we would interview specifically. Sydney was able to send

an initial email out to the coaches in the athletic department, as well as the athletic director to see

who would be interested in participating. After receiving some feedback, we decided that a total
of three interviews with different sport coaches would serve as a good sample. After deciding

who our sample would be, we began our research that would help us create our list of interview

questions. Conducting our research with our research questions already created, allowed us to

create a specific list of interview questions that really targeted our projects focus. We found a

great resource on the leadership of athletic directors and was hoping to get an interview with the

one at Western, unfortunately, he was not available in the short amount of time we had to

conduct our research. After compiling our final list of questions, we proceeded with our

interviews with the coaches. The list of questions we used for our interviews is attached in the

Appendix.

Findings
When beginning our interview process, it was difficult not to have some pre-conceived notions

on what we expected the coaches to respond with. One of the biggest points of emphasis we

found in our research was the ability of coaches to find which leadership style is best-fit for their

team and sport, this unique skill is highly desired but not often found. With our research,

interviews and experience, we came to the realization that good coaches are hard to come by.

When we first began brainstorming ideas for our project, we had an idea of what characteristics a

good coach consisted of, some of which were matched by our research process, and some new

characteristics we had not been as familiar with before. Armstrong quotes Hersey & Blanchard

when discussing what drives effective leadership is good coaches studies in leadership suggest

that leader behavior depends less on inherited traits than on group needs and tasks (Armstrong,

2013, p.44). A main idea behind our research was identifying what motivated coaches and who

they saw as their mentors. The realm of the coaching world is ever-changing and we wanted to

find out more about what inspired the individuals at WWU to become coaches and leaders of

college student-athletes.
 In our interviews with the three different coaches we found an interesting combination of

varying leadership styles. For the sake of identity, we will not be using any names of coaches nor

the sport that they coach, we will identify the coaches as Coach A, Coach B and Coach C. We

were able to interview two females and one male coach, each that coached a sport of their same

gender. Each of the coaches has been coaching over 15 years and are very experienced.

For the first interview with Coach A, we saw a combination of transformative leadership

as well as transactional. Transformative leadership can be defined as superior leadership

performance that is seen when leaders broaden and elevate the interests of their followers, when

they generate awareness and acceptance among their followers of the purposes and mission of

the group, and when they move their followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good

of the group (Armstrong, 2013, p.44). We saw this directly in the interview with Coach A when

they were discussing how they defined an effective leader I believe that an effective leader is

someone who has the ability to influence and lead others while also learning from them. I dont

believe in dictatorships and think a successful coach is someone who keeps an open mind and

relationship with their players (2016). A large part of transformative leadership is building

confidence in their followers that allows them to transcend their own self-interests.

When discussing what motivated Coach A to become a coach as well as their leadership

style, they spoke to their mentor and coach that they had when they played in college they

taught me how to be an intense coach as well as create a relationship with the players. When I

played for them they cared about me more than just an athlete but as a person, the coaches;

investment in the players allowed for a winning-culture and family-like atmosphere, something I

have continued to try to emulate (2016). Coach A was the first coach we interviewed and was a
great first example. We continued to define each coachs leadership styles as well as what served

as their main motivators.

Our second interview was with Coach B, he was the only male coach we were able to

interview. It was very interesting to compare the results of the interview with Coach B with those

of the the other two female coaches. What was really ironic was one of the leaderships styles we

identified the coach was using, when discussing what he defined great leadership as he said I

truly believe that leaders are born naturally. Of course different leadership styles emerge in

different situations, but I do not believe that true leadership can be taught, in a sense and my

experience, leadership is a very natural process, we directly related this to Great Man Theory.

Great Man Theory essentially is the belief that great leaders are born, not made, an older view

on leadership but is still certainly a held onto belief. Coach B was also very fortunate to their

mentor who had inspired their desire to coach my coach believed in natural leadership but also

in recognizing and identifying what individual players needed. They knew how to coach one

individual a certain way, then their teammate a completely different way. It was an unbelievable

skill and something I am still learning how to do today (2016). He continued to discuss when

we asked him how his coaching style had changed from when he first started to where it is now.

He discussed that he was far more strict and results-driven when he first began coaching, this is

often seen in young coaches. There is a drive to prove yourself and in the coaching realm, that

means winning. He said that he became much more successful with his players and well as saw

better results when he began recognizing the small victories, individual improvement and

success leads to the greatens of the teams success, if those victories are constantly neglected,

your team will struggle to grow (2016). Armstrong discusses the importance of encouragement
and praise recognizing small victories along the way enhances an athletes self-esteem and can

aid in the motivation of young athletes (Armstrong, 2013, p.46).

Our third and final interview was with Coach C, another female coach that is well known

for her family-like atmosphere she creates in her program. When asked what continues to driver

her to work with student athletes she responded the opportunity to have a lasting impact on a

players life is what keeps me going. The years these young adults are in college are some of

their most formable, I want my players to go through our program and leave a better person, not

just a better athlete (2016). This family-driven leadership method is one that many coaches have

found success with. In her office there are multiple quotes on the walls, we asked about one in

particular because I recognized it from John Woodens Pyramid of Success, it read Loyalty: Be

true to yourself, be true to those you lead. John Wooden, the legendary coach of UCLA mens

basketball is one of the best known coaches of all time. He emphasized a family-aspect in his

teams and preached the importance of investing in your athletes. When asked about the quote she

responded if I dont invest in them, why should they invest in me?. This response sums up

Coach Cs coaching philosophy and mentality. She wants her athletes to believe that she wants

them to be strong individuals and great people, not just great athletes that play for her.

The opportunity that we had to speak with three different coaches in the Western athletic

department was a great way to learn and apply the research we had done on coaching styles and

motivation. With our combined experiences as being a college athlete, as well as parenting a

hopeful college athlete, we certainly were able to learn what we would define as a successful

coach as well as what motivates and inspires coaches today.

Recommendations
With Sydneys experience of being a college athlete and now coaching at the collegiate

level, we feel that our recommendations for the coaches could easily be applied. With that being
said, it is hard to critique a coachs philosophy and coaching style, especially after they have

been doing so for 15+ years. With the support of our research as well as interviews there are just

a few recommendations we would make to coaches that wish to be successful both in and out of

competition.

Both the interviews and research showed that coaches that empower their athletes

through building interpersonal relationships are more likely to find success in the competition.

When an athlete knows you care about them as more than just a player on your team, they are

much more likely to invest in the betterment of the team. Strategies to build genuine

relationships include spending time with your athletes away from the gym or field. Taking time

to have a coffee with them, learn about their families and why they love the sport just as much as

you do. Sydney recalls having her coach take her to lunch her freshman year and having a

discussion that did not involve basketball in any aspect. A small gesture like that goes such a

long way, knowing that your coach cares about you as a person makes it much easier to work

hard for them day in and day out.

Another strategy that can help cultivate strong relationships with players is essentially

walking your talk. In other words, practice what you preach when it comes to your relationship

with your players. If you demand them to work hard, you have to work harder as a coach. One of

the biggest points of emphasis that Armstrong suggests when implementing the transformational

leadership model into coaching is emphasizing ethical behavior in general, athletes will be less

likely to practice inappropriate behavior if their coaches exhibit morally mature, exemplary

behavior (p.45). This may seem like common sense but is too often overlooked. The way you

handle your relationships with officials, parents of players, media, social media etc. is all seen by
your players and if you are exhibiting anything less than what you expect of them, how can they

respect you.

A final recommendation is to create workshops throughout the year for coaches on

transformational leadership as part of a work requirement. This allows for coaches to develop

leadership skills and learn other coaches styles and techniques. There are opportunities for

coaches to learn and build from one another to collaborate on ideas of leadership. The coaches

will also learn more about their own leadership style, recognize their strengthens and

weaknesses, and most importantly gain new knowledge of other leadership styles. With that

being said, WWU coaches should utilize students from various departments on campus to

develop a workshop such as Woodring College of Education the Adult and Higher Education

program, which would be a cost-efficient in the long run. Students who have taken or will be

taking Program Development course can develop a casual and informational workshop on

transformational leadership for coaches to better serve current and/or future athletes.

Conclusion
As we began this participatory action research project, we had an idea in mind that we

wanted to find out more behind the motivation and desire of college coaches. What made them

tick and what drove their desire for their job? After gathering information through research and

interviews, we now have a much better understanding behind the philosophy of coaching and

what it truly takes to be a successful coach. We may not have gotten the opportunity to

participate quite yet, but have taken a step towards improving the experience for student athletes

and improving our knowledge on the subject. It is impossible to know all the answers, but we do

know this, in order to be a successful coach you have to invest in your philosophy and invest in

your team. There can be no team if there is no buy-in from your athletes and the first step to
making them your athletes is taking the time to invest in them as individuals, and not just a

jersey number.
 Appendix

Motivation and Coaching Philosophy Interview Questions

Motivation & Philosophy Questions:

What and or who was your biggest motivator to become a coach and how has that shaped
your coaching philosophy and mentality?
What would you say you are the proudest of in your coaching style and ability?
What would you say is your biggest area for improvement when it comes to coaching?
How has your coaching style/philosophy changed from when you first began coaching to
now?
What drives you each and every day to work with student athletes?

Article: Are you a Transformational Coach?

How do you define effective leader behavior or successful coaching?
What leadership style you have as a coach that can be transformational for athlete
performance?
What ethical behaviors you install in athletes to bring importance of community and
equality?
If there is a need for improvements from athletes, how do you support them?
As a coach, how do you lead by example?
How do you encourage and praise your athletes on the team?
References

Armstrong, S. (2013). Are You a Transformational Coach? Journal of Physical Education,

Recreation & Dance, 72(3), 44-47. doi:10.1080/07303084.2001.10605851

Baghurst, T.; Murray, E.; Jayne, C.; Carter, D. (2014). Leadership and management skills

of junior college athletic directors. Retrieved from

http://thesportjournal.org/article/tag/athletic_directors/

Hersey, P., Blanchard, K.H. (1988). Management of organizational behavior (5th ed.).

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (1999). Encouraging the heart. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (1987). The leadership challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Morgan, S. (2014, Feb., 24). Ten Leadership Theories in Five Minutes.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB-YhBbtfXE].